Is it ever too late to start something new? Of course everyone has heard of, “You can’t teach a dog new tricks”.
When it comes to the school year, I feel challenged to come up with something. To view education in a new light. I honestly would have never considered Homeschooling, or as it is referred to where we live, “Istruzione parentale”. Parental education also known as family school, paternal school or indicated with Anglo-Saxon terms such as: homeschooling or home education.
Normally at this time of the year, parents are excited and looking excited for the new adventures and knowledge that our children will acquire. But this year everything is completely different. Even the happiness, the anticipation and eagerness for each student to return is enclosed with uncertainty.
My first step was to try to find out all the legal and logistical information that I could, taking into consideration where we live. I then searched to see if any other Homeschoolers existed and I tried to see their experiences and thoughts about homeschooling in a country that has not really opened to it yet. My next step was to research Homeschooling in general, of course I was focused on Homeschooling in America. I have my friend and colleagues that I know have homeschooled for years. I was surprised to find out that about 2 million students are homeschooled in America.
I also stumbled upon some wonderful Ted talks focusing on Homeschooling.
This one was very interesting and insightful: How will I educate my children | Joshua Steimle | TEDxHongKongED , some other Ted Talks can be found here:
I also found out about Unschooling, which I found interesting. I was actually unaware of its existence.
So this is the beginning of something that my husband and I will do wonderfully. We decided to homeschool because of the ever impending situation at this moment. We had to contemplate the fact that we, as parents would feel 100 percent comfortable with sending our two boys back to school. Just within this week, many Italians have been travelling for their summer vacations. Slowly they are all trickling back, not that their holidays are coming to an end as can be read here:
I know that we are making the right decision for our two boys. Our oldest was to start his last year of middle school. Our youngest was to start his last year of elementary school. I have worked for over five years in Italian schools and over 15 years as a professor. We are ready for this, in my researching I even acquired another diploma (I hold a BS, MFA, TEFL and a TESOL) :
On top of that, my husband and I have discussed in detail what the focus and our objectives will be. We have even spoken with one of the best authorities on the matter, here in Italy. We feel pretty secure and excited with our new plan. Our first step is to print out the letter Deregistration to our boy’s school. We are not quite sure what the reaction will be from the school and our small community (The population of our village is just a little over 3000 people. ) We will hold our breath and wait for the best. Stay tuned to how the adventure continues!
Favoleggiare 